New row at Ardhi House set to delay lease renewals

The renewal of land leases risks delay following a fresh feud between Lands secretary Charity Ngilu and National Land Commission (NLC) chairman Mohamed Swazuri.

The Cabinet secretary said in a statement on Tuesday that the Lands ministry would vet requests for lease renewals before involving the commission.

Mrs Ngilu also criticised NLC for allegedly breaching rules on its handling of expired leases, adding that the commission has failed to seek the consent of the county and national governments before the renewals.

The ministry’s statement follows a notice issued by Dr Swazuri early this month asking those with expired or expiring land leases to apply to the commission for renewal by June or risk having their parcels repossessed.

“To renew a lease, Section 12 (1), (6) and Section 13 (1) of the Land Act are clear on the need for the NLC to get consent from the County or National government before renewals. What we have seen is a haphazard approach to renewal of leases,” she said.

“All citizens whose leases have or are about to expire should first report to your county government or the national government depending on the lease type. This will then be transmitted to the NLC in the proper manner for renewal or re-allocation.”

She said Article 64 of the Constitution categorises leasehold land as private land that she says falls in the administration of the county and national governments and not the NLC.

Many land leases are due for renewal following provisions in the Constitution adopted in August 2010 which slashed the lease period to 99 years from the previous 999 years.

This mainly affected leases issued in the late 1800s and early 1900s with insiders at the Lands ministry indicating that most of the land under this category are owned by foreign firms that occupy large tracts of land that support key economic activity such as flower, tea, coffee and horticultural farming.

Once a land lease expires, the parcel reverts to the commission as the main custodian of the government land.

The commission can either renew it or not. This depends on the status of the parcel of land by the former user.

Dr Swazuri reckons that some of the leases due for renewal or extension were issued out irregularly and should be verified.

“It has come to the attention of the commission that there are many applications for the extension and renewal of land leases that had been acquired illegally or irregularly,” he said earlier.

This latest standoff is likely to dent investment plans by land owners due to uncertainty. Article 13 of the Land Act says where land reverts to the national or county government after expiry of the lease, the NLC shall offer to the past holder pre-emptive rights to allocation provided that such lessee is a Kenyan and that the parcel is not marked for public use.

The NLC in its strategic plan for 2013/18 said renewal, extension and recall of leases would be part of its priority programmes to help address historical injustices on land ownership.

Besides leases, Mrs Ngilu and Dr Swazuri are fighting over powers to issue title deeds and approve transfer of land ownership.